Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LAGOON SUMMER CAMPS
Every summer since 1988 amateur archaeologists, university graduates and schoolchildren have made the journey
out to the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo to work on one of the most fascinating historic sites in the lagoon, the
Tezon Grande
.
The quarantine depot for the Republic between 1468 and the 1700s, the Tezon measures 100m in length and is
the second-largest public building in the lagoon after the Corderie at the Arsenale. Around its perimeter it was
surrounded by hundreds of one-room cottages, where travelling merchants waited out their 40-day exile trying to
avoid the plague while city officials fumigated their cargoes with burning juniper and rosemary branches. Archae-
ological groups have so far catalogued hundreds of artefacts and uncovered extensive graffiti itemising ships' car-
goes and describing harrowing voyages from Cyprus and Constantinople.
To enjoy an active role in the Lazzaretto's rehabilitation, check out the
Ekos Club
( 041 244 40 11;
www.lazzarettonuovo.com
; Isola di Lazzaretto Nuovo; 9.45am-4.30pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct; ; Laz-
zaretto Nuovo) summer program. Between April and October it's also possible to visit the island on Saturday and
Sunday. Take
vaporetto
13 from the Fondamente Nuove and request the stop.
Le Vignole
Welcome to the Venetian countryside! Together the two islands of Vignole Vecchie and
Vignole Nuove long produced the doge's wine, and their 50 inhabitants still live mainly
from agriculture. Like that of nearby Sant'Erasmo, the landscape is covered in fields,
groves and vineyards and people are few and far between.
Vaporetto
13 runs to Le
Vignole from Fondamente Nuove via Murano (Faro stop).
A couple of
osterie
-
Trattoria alla Vignole
( 041 528 97 07;
www.trattoriaallevignole.com
; Isola
Vignole 12; meals €30-40; 10am-10pm Tue-Sun Apr-Sep)
and
Agriturismo da Zangrando
( 041 528 40 20;
Via delle Vignole 11; meals €25-35; 12.30-2.30pm Thu-Mon Apr-Sep)
- on the southwestern shore open
in summer to accommodate weekending Venetians and intrepid lagoon explorers. At the
southeastern tip a promontory ends in the Isola di Sant'Andrea, the location of the best-
preserved fort on the lagoon: 16th-century
Forte Sant'Andrea
. Visits to the fort - more com-
monly known as the Castello da Mar (Sea Castle) - are only possible on lagoon boat trips.
Isola della Certosa
Once home to Carthusian monks (hence the island's name), La Certosa was the site of a
grand monastery, its church graced with ducal tombs and rich artworks. All of that was
lost, however, when the island was taken over by the military in the 19th century. Even its
